Game of Realms
by 4TheLoveofReading24
Summary: Marshall is invited to a ball in the Nightosphere and Fionna wants in. However, when she's there, she's caught up in a dangerous political game from different demon clans and a sinister plan that could endanger all the occupants in the land of Aaa.
1. Chapter 1

_So, this is my first ever fanfic and I've been thinking about this story for a while now. I have some ideas in my head and I'm not sure where the story will really go. It pretty much depends whenever I type. As always, the original Adventure Time goes to the amazing Pendelton Ward and Natasha Allegri for creating the gender bender versions of the characters. Enjoy~_

Chapter 1: A Dance in Hell

In the land of Aaa, a certain Vampire King lived in a house inside a cave. Years before, he used to live in a giant tree that was converted into a house, which in turn was abandoned and then occupied by two different tenants. Of course when the Vampire King returned, there was a debacle of who should get the house, but in the end, the two tenants got their home back. Now, one of those residents is walking into the cave where a house with a blue and brown roof and white picket fences was located in. It had a large deck that overlooked a pond, a basketball net and three cupolas. Why the Vampire King never lived in his own kingdom, the people of Aaa will never know.

Fionna rearranged her blue mini-skirt as it had hiked up when she stepped over one of the white picket fences. Her black buckled shoes crushed the green grass beneath her feet and for the first time, she wondered how her best guy friend kept his lawn so green. She had never seen him water them before in all the years that she'd known him. Fionna walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She glanced over to the outside of the cave. It was nearly sunset but she wasn't sure if the Vampire King was going to be up. He'd had a Battle of the Bands competition the night before and didn't come home till nearly sunrise because after that he had "kingly duties" to do in his kingdom.

Fionna felt guilty about bothering him, but she had decided to make the visit quick and congratulate him about winning the contest and then leave so her friend could get back on his sleep. The heroine of Aaa knocked once more and stood in the second step, waiting. After what seemed like a minute, she tried the doorknob but it was locked. She could've easily picked the lock, but she decided not to and turned to leave. As she was nearly on the last flight of steps, she heard a lock click and the door swinging open. Fionna turned around and there stood a bedraggled Vampire King. His black hair was all over the place, as if he had stuck a finger through an electric socket. He wore a black tank top that was wrinkled and red plaid pajama pants. His dark eyes were bloodshot and he yawned, showing his sharp vampire teeth.

"Fionna?" Marshall Lee rasped. He rubbed his eyes, probably thinking that he was seeing things. He blinked a couple of times and then raised one of his eyebrows when he was clear that he wasn't seeing an illusion of the heroin of Aaa. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't mean to wake you up, dude," Fionna replied. "I wanted to congratulate you on your victory at the Battle of the Bands."

"Oh. Thanks."

Fionna, once more, turned to leave. "Well, I'll see you later."

"Wait." Marshall stepped out of the house. However, there were still rays of the sun left that was shining in the cave. One beam hit the skin of his arm. He hissed and quickly jumped back into the safety of the shadows, steam rising on his arm.

"Marshall!" Fionna rushed up the steps, entered his house and slammed the door shut. What little light she had instantly vanished as the interior of the house was bathed in darkness. She fumbled for the switch. When the living room lights were on, she inspected the wound on Marshall's arm. Luckily, it wasn't serious. With his fast healing, the boils disappeared and Marshall's skin returned back to its light gray and flawless appearance.

Fionna breathed a sigh of relief and released Marshall's arm. The Vampire King just smiled. "No need to freak out, Fi. I'm a vampire remember? We're fast healers."

"I know that, dude," said Fionna. "But I still get worried."

Marshall just smirked and rubbed the bunny shaped hat that Fionna seemed to wear every single second. He then proceeded to float towards his kitchen and Fionna followed him. Fionna blinked as Marshall switched on the lights.

"So, where's the furball?" Marshall asked, as he turned on the faucet in the sink. He dipped his head under the running water.

Fionna crossed her arms behind her head and slightly tilted to the side. "_Cake,"_ she emphasized, "is on a date with Lord Monochomichorn." She wondered why Marshall was soaking his hair in the sink when he could've just used the shower.

"What? No double date with you and Prince Pink?"

Fionna knew that Marshall was just joking, but she couldn't help but blush at the mention of Prince Gumball. She crossed her arms over her chest, indignant. "Don't be such a poo brain. You know I'm over him." Then why was her face burning?

Marshall shut the faucet off and removed his head from under it. He flipped his soaked, dark hair causing some of the droplets to hit Fionna.

"Hey!" She took a couple of steps back, until she was at the door frame. "Haven't your heard of a towel?"

Marshall grabbed the kitchen towel from the red drawer that was underneath the window that overlooked the living room. "You need to lighten up, Fionna. A little water can't hurt you." He vigorously rubbed the towel on his hair, and then he slicked it back, leaving some strands to fall over his forehead. Marshall draped the towel around his neck and turned to Fionna.

For some odd reason, Fionna's heart fluttered a little as she inspected the Vampire King. She noticed how his dark eyes weren't bloodshot anymore and how his wet, slicked black hair made him look older than he physically was. Fionna could almost imagine seeing Marshall in a black and white suit, except he would be holding his jacket while it was slung on his back. One button on his white shirt would be open exposing a little bit of his muscular chest…

Fionna's face burned and she quickly turned away. She didn't want her best guy friend to see her crimson cheeks because Marshall would _definitely _guess what she was thinking. "A-anyways, shouldn't you be going back to sleep? I did wake you, after all."

"Nah," Marshall said behind her. "Even though it's a little early this is usually around the time that I'll wake up. Besides, I think that sting from that sun ray woke me up."

There was a moment's pause and Fionna turned to see Marshall floating towards his fridge. He opened the door and rummaged through it. "You want some breakfast or early dinner in your case? I think you might've left some yogurt here or something."

Fionna walked over to him and surveyed the contents of his refrigerator. Since Marshall was a vampire and drank the color red instead of blood, everything in his fridge was that color. Cherry soda, a bowl of cherries, tomatoes, red apples and his personal favorite: a huge bowl of red ripe strawberries. Fionna even spotted a slice of red velvet cake right next to them. "Oh. I'll take the cake." She grabbed the plate of cake and took a bite while using her hands.

"I was going to save that for a special occasion," Marshall grumbled. "And haven't you ever heard of a fork?"

"I have and you shouldn't leave a cake like this out in the open," she teased. But, as Fionna was a sharer, she broke half of the cake and handed it to Marshall. He made a face.

"Did you even wash your hands, Fi?"

She blushed again. "Yes, I did. Besides, why do you even care if you caught my germs or something?" Fionna hated it when Marshall called out on her unlady-like eating manners.

Marshall grabbed the other half of the cake from her hands, smiling. "I was just teasing you." Fionna watched as his fangs popped out of his mouth as he opened it and sank onto the soft cake. The red coloring slowly disappeared as Marshall sucked it out of the desert. It wasn't long before the pastry resembled a vanilla cake slice. "Ah, that was a nice breakfast." He tossed the remains of the pastry into the trash. Marshall eyed the remaining cake in Fionna's other hand. "Are you going to finish that?"

Since Fionna's mind was still engrossed from the scene a moment before, it took a while for her to answer. "Oh…uh…Duh, dude. I'm not letting you have my cake." She shoved the remaining piece into her mouth and turned towards the still open fridge. Fionna grabbed the cherry soda, popped it open and drank. The cake inside her mouth slowly dissolved as the carbonated drink entered. She swallowed and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "So, do you want to do something tonight?"

Marshall shrugged. "I'm game for pulling pranks on the Candy People."

Although the pranks were fun, Fionna always felt guilty whenever she did them with Marshall, especially when he would get too overboard on some of them. She still couldn't forget that on prank that they pulled on Cinnamon Bun…

"Maybe some other time," she said.

"How about we strangle some pixies?"

Fionna was horrified. "No! I'm not strangling any living creature!"

"Not if they were evil?"

"Good or evil, dude, I don't kill living creatures."

Marshall Lee sighed. "You're way too soft, you know that?"

Fionna stuck her tongue at him. "I'm a hero, Marshall, not a murderer." Yes, Fionna may slay demons and monsters but she would only knock them out or they would disappear into their own world. Even if she was given the chance, she couldn't do it. Fionna would never have the heart.

"I know that, but I'm pretty sure some heroes have killed before," said Marshall.

"Oh, yeah? Like who?"

Before Marshall could answer, there was a hiss that came from the living room. Fionna whirled around and, suddenly, a gaping hole with flames appeared on one of the walls. Fionna's heart started to pound in her chest and her cherry soda slipped from her hand and spilled to the floor. She knew that hole all too well. She had too many nightmares after Fionna rescued Marshall from that place after he had unwillingly became its ruler.

It was a portal to the Nightosphere.

Marshall walked towards the portal, ignoring the red pool of soda. His body was tense and his eyes were red. He cursed. "Fionna, I want you to hide."

She was surprised and offended. "I can take care of myself—"

Marshall spun around and snarled, "NOW!"

Stunned and a little hurt, Fionna backed to the middle of the kitchen. Marshall closed the kitchen door and the shutters that overlooked the living room leaving the heroine no view of Hannah Abadeer or whatever was going to come out of the portal. Fionna wondered why Marshall was acting all gunked up and tense.

She had met Marshall's mom before and had seemed nice enough, until she had tried to suck her soul. Then there was that time when Marshall invited her to hang out in the Nightosphere and his mom had given him an amulet that made Marshall into that ugly soul sucking demon. In the end, it turned out alright and Marshall didn't seem to hold a grudge against her and Fionna even gained a little respect from her.

However, that was a long time ago.

But, what about now?

What was the current relationship between the Vampire King and the Lady of Evil?

So curious to find out, Fionna pressed her ear against the kitchen door and strained to listen to the sounds from the other side. All she could hear at first was the crackling of the flames and then she heard Marshall's voice.

"Oh, it's just you."

A new voice that Fionna didn't recognize replied. "Have I offended the King of the Vampires? Were you hoping for someone else?" The voice sounded feminine.

Fionna pressed her ear against the door harder.

"What are you doing here?" asked Marshall, ignoring the unknown woman's question.

"I'm here on official business from your mother."

_Marshall's mom?_ Fionna thought.

She heard the clack of heels.

"Yeah? What does she want and why didn't she come herself?"

There was a small moment of silence and, for some strange reason; Fionna thought that the lady was smiling.

"Is a certain Vampire King missing his mother?"

Marshall replied but it had an angry undertone in it. "I can't believe you would ask such a stupid question after what she did."

_What did Marshall's mom do this time?_ Fionna thought.

Another moment of silence. Then, the woman said, "An espousal is not the end of the world, Marshall Lee. Think of it as whole new chapter in your immortal life."

"Yeah," Marshall said sarcastically. "Called 'My Hellish Prison'." Then he busted out laughing. "That's the perfect name for it!"

Fionna heard the woman sigh and then the sound of paper.

"I was ordered to give you this."

Fionna heard nothing, so she guessed that Marshall was reading. Glob! She was so tempted to open the door a little and see what was going on, but she was afraid that the demon lady might notice.

"What the glob is this?" Marshall sounded incredulous.

"An invitation, of course."

"I can see that, but when was the last time she ever did this sort of thing?"

"That wasn't part of my errand description for today. I just came here to deliver that."

"Why?"

"Why what?" asked the woman.

"Why is she inviting me to this?"

The woman sighed. "You may be the Vampire King, Marshall, but you are still the heir to the Nightosphere. That hasn't changed."

"Is this another ploy from my mom to get me to take the throne? Because if it is I'm—"

"I assure you it's not."

Marshall snarled. "For some reason, I don't believe you."

"Believe what you may, but you're mother insists that you have to attend."

Fionna heard the click of heels and she could imagine the woman turning around and walking back towards the portal.

"We hope to see you, Marshall Lee Abadeer. Oh, and you may invite a friend if you wish."

Fionna heard the portal closing shut and the sound of crackling flames disappearing. As soon as it got quite, Fionna burst opened the door and announced, "I'm going."

_~So what did you think? Leave some comments and if it's well received I'll continue the fanfic :) Again thank you for reading! _

**_Sorry for the delay in chapter two :( having problems with uploading it. But here's the next chapter title: _A Whole Other Level.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Whole Other Level

Naturally, Marshall rejected the idea.

"It's too dangerous, Fi," he said. "You could get hurt. No, you _are_ going to get hurt."

Fionna scoffed; irritated that Marshall could even say that. "I've faced a lot of demons on missions before and Cake got even captured by one! I know how to handle them!"

"Do you really, Fi?" asked Marshall.

He handed Fionna the paper. She examined it. It_ was _an invitation. An invitation to a ball. Hannah Abadeer was hosting one in the Nightosphere inside her palace.

"A ball?" Fionna was perplexed. "I didn't know that your mom was into that kind of junk."

"She's not," replied Marshall. He flew to the kitchen, grabbed two strawberries from the fridge and sucked out the colors. He threw them in the trash and went back to Fionna. "The ball is just a political opportunity for my mom to control the different demon clans."

"There are demon clans in the Nightosphere?" Fionna asked in amazement. "I didn't know that."

"No, you don't and neither will anyone else. The demon clans are exclusive and secretive. And very territorial."

"But how come we never came across them when we were in the Nightosphere?"

"Because the demon clans are placed in different parts of the Nightosphere, away from where my mom lives," Marshall replied. "Plus, I told you. The demon clans in the Nightosphere are secretive and not everybody knows them. I don't even think that Bubba even knows."

Something that not even Gumball knew? And the Prince of the Candy Kingdom practically knew everything!

"Anyway Fionna, you still can't come. My mom rarely hosts a ball. This isn't like the Biennial Gumball Ball. Not everyone is invited."

"But that lady said that you could bring a friend," Fionna protested.  
"I don't think she meant my _human_ friend. Besides, you don't even know if I'm going or not."

"But you are, aren't you?"

Marshall sighed. "Unfortunately I have to. I hate to admit it, but I _am _still the Prince of Demons and heir to the throne has to show up." The way that Marshall said it made Fionna think that Marshall didn't like being the son of a demon that ruled the Nightosphere.

Fionna remembered what Marshall had said long ago: _I'm the son of a demon and the Vampire King. _

For the first time, Fionna wondered what Marshall was before he became the King of the Vampires.

"I'm still going Marshall," she insisted. "You can't stop me."

Exasperated, Marshall grabbed Fionna's shoulders. "Listen, Fionna. I've seen you battle monsters and demons and you always win and there is no one that I would want in my side to fight monsters better than you, but this is something that you will never ever be ready for. The demon clans are whole different kind of demons, another level. They can easily kill you."

This was the first time that Fionna had ever seen Marshall Lee so serious before. Usually he was so flippant, a bit of a party boy and a womanizer. His dark eyes held no trace of humor in them and Fionna desperately searched for them as she held his gaze. But she couldn't find anything. Marshall Lee was intent on Fionna not going.

"Ok," she relented. "I won't go."

Marshall released her shoulders. "Good. Now, I want you to promise me not to tell anyone about this invitation or the fact that you know about the demon clans. Got it?"

Fionna nodded. "I promise."

Marshal gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Fi."

"No problem, dude," she said. "So, when is the ball?"

"In two weeks." Marshall sighed. Even though it hadn't even started yet, Fionna could tell that he was already dreading the whole event. "Man, I hate socialite events. So stupid and they're only good for the aristocrats to gossip about each other and hopefully worm there way into another powerful one."

"Seems a lot different from what Gumball hosts."

Marshall smirked. "When it comes to political warfare, Gumball's parties are tame."

He floated to the ladder that leads to his bedroom. "Anyways, I have to make a few calls, so I'll see you later, Fi."

"Oh. Ok." Fionna was disappointed that she didn't get to hang with Marshall. "See ya."

She closed the door behind her.

The morning after, Fionna was in the Royal Kitchen along with Cake. Both of them were waiting on Prince Gumball as he was finishing the placing the icing on the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for the kids in the Candy Orphanage. Both of the heroines were assisting the Prince in passing out the sweets to the children.

"So how was your date with Lord?" Fionna asked.

"Sweet babies, it was fantastic." Cake sighed, no doubt recalling the date that she had with her boyfriend. "He even gave me catnip." Her eyes got wide in mentioning the treat that was her weakness.

Fionna smiled. "Sounds like it was mathematical."

"All right, you two," said Gumball. "I'm done. Fionna you carry the one with the white icing and Cake you get the gold one."

Of course, the Prince carried the tray with the pink icing.

The three of them made their way to the orphanage and the candy kids instantly flocked to the sweets. Cake's was especially popular and she had to morph to a giant size so the orphans wouldn't trip the tray over. Fionna laughed most of the time but she couldn't get her mind out of the invitation to the demon ball.

Over the course of the next week and a half, Fionna went on missions with Cake, most from Gumball and some from the other princes. It was a good way to burn some time and to distract her mind from the ball that was coming up, but whenever she came home, her brain would always go back. The heroine was getting really annoyed and her curiosity couldn't be satisfied with missions, even if some of them involved demons. When she encountered them, she was so tempted to ask if they knew anything about the demon clans, but Fionna remembered her promise to Marshall that she wouldn't mention this to anyone, so she kept her mouth shut. Besides, Cake would get suspicious.

Fionna heaved a sigh and laid her head on the kitchen table. Breakfast wafted into the air to fill her nostrils. But even the scent of eggs and bacon couldn't fix her mood. It was the week of the ball and Fionna's anxiety grew. She didn't know what the exact day of when the dance was going to be held, but she knew that it was just the matter of time. Marshal told her to not worry about it and he could handle himself (that she believed) but the heroine was so desperate to find out who the demon clans were.

"Something the matter, Fi?" Cake asked, sensing her friend's disposition.

Fionna lifted her head. "Nothing. Just a little tired, that's all." It wasn't exactly a lie. She was tired of feeling ignorant about the whole demon clan thing, plus they came home late last night from the Candy Kingdom.

"Well, some eggs and bacon will do you some good," said her best friend.

Cake carried the still-hot pan and dropped the eggs and bacon onto Fionna's plate. The three strips of meat were a little sizzling but they were a nice reddish-brown color and they were crispy as Fionna placed them in her mouth.

"It's awesome," she said, bacon still in her mouth.

Fionna gobbled up the rest of her breakfast and drank her orange juice. Cake's breakfast did improve her mood a bit, but it couldn't sate her curiosity of the demon clans. Fionna wanted to know about them, but how could she do that without breaking her promise to Marshall? There has got to be someplace where she could find information on them. Where, though?

Fionna glanced at Cake, who was washing the pan. She didn't want to ask her best friend, but she had to take a chance.

"Hey, Cake?" Fionna asked.

"Yeah?"

"Where would you go to find information?"

"Uh…the library?"

Fionna felt dumb, all of a sudden. "Oh."

"Why are you asking?"

Instead of answering, Fionna got out of the table and walked to the ladder that leads down to the front door of their tree house.

"Where are you goin', girl?"

Fionna stopped, suspended at the ladder. Cake had stopped washing the pan to stare at her roommate.

"The library?" Fionna slowly answered.

"What for?" asked Cake as she moved closer to the heroine.

Fionna shrugged. "Just some light reading."

"Light reading?"

Nuts. Cake was getting suspicious. Of course, Fionna couldn't blame her. She wasn't known in the land of Aaa to be a bookworm. However, Fionna really needed to get to the library ASAP. She really needed some info about those demon clans and maybe people would call it lying but, technically, she was still doing some reading, right?

"Cake, I have to do something today," Fionna said. "And I don't think that were going to receive any more missions from Gumball or the other princes."

"Since when do you go to the library to go do somethin'?" Cake asked.

Fionna shrugged again, trying to appear nonchalant. "I could use the change of pace."

"Well, then I'll go with you." Cake turned around to the sink. "Let me finish this pan-"

"No!" Fionna panicked.

Cake turned around, eyebrows raised quizzically at Fionna. "No? Are you feeling ok, Fi?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She waved her hand in the air as if to wave away the panic that she had felt seconds ago. "I'll be fine by myself. I'm not going to be gone long. Just stay here and watch the house in case I could be wrong about the whole no mission thing, then you can come back and get me."

Fionna then descended down the ladder, not giving Cake any more chances to comment about her strange behavior this morning.

**Next Chapter: The Library**


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: sorry for the super long update... kind forgot how to upload_

_So what will Fionna find here? Or will she find anything at all?_

Chapter 3: The Library

Fionna raced to the library, just on the outskirts of the Turtle Prince's kingdom. When she reached her destination, she slammed the doors open causing the few occupants and including its ruler/librarian to glare at her. Then, as if they had rehearsed the whole thing, they simultaneously put a finger to their lips and shushed Fionna.

The heroine chuckled nervously and whispered, "Sorry."

_Man it's so creepy when they do that,_ Fionna thought.

She proceeded forward, a little out of breath.

The library was huge and this was probably the first time in a long time since the heroine of Aaa came to the library. The shelves were oak brown, worn and rose about quarter towards the ceiling. How many of these majestic wooden beings there were Fionna couldn't be sure. All she knew that there were more of these things than there were of the penguins in the Ice Queens kingdom and she had _too many _of those. All the books in the shelves were placed neatly and orderly and Fionna quickly realized with dismay that there were too many books to search for the information she needed, even if she did start in the Ds. It would consume too much of her limited time there.

Fionna glanced at the Turtle Prince, unsure of what to do. She wondered if he would question Fionna's motivation for coming to the library. But she had to try.

"Hey, TP," she greeted, approaching the desk where the prince sat behind it.

"Hello, Fionna," the prince replied in his high-pitched voice. "Very rare to see you here."

Fionna laughed a little. "Yeah. I was bored today, so I guess I could use the change of pace."

"Well, what do you need?"

"Uh, I was just wondering if…um…" Oh, glob. She was already messing this up.

"Do you want me to find a book for you?" the prince asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Fionna nodded vigorously. _Duh! I'm such an idiot._

Turtle Prince turned to the computer near him. "What do you need me to find?"

Fionna thought about it for a moment. Could she just outright say that she needed to find a book about demons?

Before Fionna could say anything, the prince said, "If you're looking for an adventure book, I suggest this one called _Alice in Wonderland_. It's a book from a long time ago, but it's a classic and I think you'll enjoy it. The main character is a human girl like you and she—"

"Yeah, that's great TP but, I was looking for more of an…informational book."

"Well, we have many of those over there in the corner." The prince pointed to his right where the shelves of informational books were kept. Fionna could see that there were too many books for her to search for individually.

She turned back to the prince. "I don't have time to search all those books for what I'm looking for."

"Then, what specifically, are you searching for?"

Fionna couldn't lie to him. It wouldn't be right. Even so, she still couldn't tell the prince the truth. "Do you have a book about demons? Like maybe a recording of every single demon in the Nightosphere?"

Turtle Prince gave the heroine a quizzical look. "You're looking for a book about demons? We don't have a lot of those here."

Fionna was surprised.

_With all these books, you don't even have a hundred volumes about demons?_

"That's fine," said Fionna. "Just give me one that has a lot of information about them."

The prince turned back towards his computer. "I'll see what I can do."

Fionna tapped the counter with her finger, impatient. She tried to do it lightly as she could as she waited for the Turtle Prince to finish his search since she didn't want to see that creepy simultaneously shushing again. To keep herself busy, she started surveying the library. She noticed that there weren't too many people and that the chairs had owl carvings on it. The ceilings were vast and rose up to a hundred feet into the air. In fact, they were so massive that all Fionna could see of the ceilings were nothing but shadows. She wondered if that's how the demon clans were. Shadows among the vastness of the Nightosphere.

"Ok, I've found two ideal books for you," the prince announced, snapping Fionna out of her reverie. "Both volumes one and two."

"Awesome."

Turtle Prince grabbed a piece of paper from the table and a pencil and started writing down the numbers and book titles. The he handed the paper to Fionna. "I'm not sure whether you'll find the information you're looking for, but these two have the most extensive information on every demon that's ever set foot on the Land of Aaa."

"Thanks a lot," Fionna said.

Without wasting another minute, she rushed over towards the Ds section of the library. The books were separated according to their genres and arranged in alphabetical order. Some titles made Fionna raise one of her eyebrows but her eyes continued to search until she came upon the titles: _Demonology Volume 1_ and_ Demonology Volume 2._ She grabbed the books, sat down on the floor and started leafing through the pages of the first one. The books weren't thick but the material used for the paper made the book heavier than it physically appeared. The first volume had information on how the folklore of demons came to be, how to summon one (with varying methods and ingredients), how to return the demon back to its world or how to capture one and control it. But as Fionna kept flipping through the pages, she couldn't find a chapter about different classifications of demons or even a mention of the demon clans.

Frustrated, Fionna slammed the book shut and started leafing through the second one. This time, it was what she was looking for. The whole first half of the book had different kinds of demons in them, all in alphabetical order. The book had illustrations of the varying demons in them, some small, large and grotesque. Most of them were located in the Nightosphere or in the dangerous parts of Aaa. Fionna recognized half of these demons. Even the goblins and Goblin King were written in the pages. She even found out that vampires were also in the category of demons. But the Vampire King was not listed in there. But Fionna didn't think too much on it. She never thought of Marshall as a demon anyway.

As Fionna skimmed through more, she realized that most of the creatures that she faced during her missions were demons or at least in the category of one. The heroine flipped to the last page of the first half of the book and came face to face with Hannah Abadeer. She almost screamed, and then quickly got her logic in order. It was only a picture of her.

The ruler of the Nightosphere was wearing a black suit jacket, with a white shirt underneath along with a pencil shaped skirt and blood red heels. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight bun. In the photo she was smiling, which showed off two whole rows of her sharp, white incisors. It seemed as if the whole thing was pre-prepared because there no hint of surprise on her face that someone was about to take her picture. The description of her was information Fionna already knew. It stated that she was the ruler of the Nightosphere and that her age was unknown. All the author knew was that she was immortal. It continued on with more info about her, stuff that Marshall told Fionna. But there was something that the page was missing. It never mentioned that Hannah Abadeer had a child. Fionna found that odd but she continued reading. Maybe the author never knew that Marshall was the son of the Lady of Evil. The page continued on to where Hannah lived (which was obvious) but nothing more.

Fionna flipped the page again, but she never came across the material she was looking for. The heroine sighed, exhausted and in pain from sitting on the cold floor for too long. She stacked the books on top of each other and stood up. The combined weight of the books made her grunt but she managed to stand upright. Fionna stood there for a moment, lost in thought.

She couldn't believe that she was hopeful enough that there would be information on the demon clans. Even if she desperately searched the other books, she would run out of time and the results could have been the same as well. Marshall was certainly spot on when he said that they were secretive.

Fionna turned back around to the shelf and placed the first volume back. The shelf wasn't high but she still had to lift up a little because of her small stature. Even when she reached and passed the puberty age, she gained only two inches of height. The book slid neatly onto the shelf. She grabbed the second volume from her hand and used the other to place it back on the shelf. However, it slipped from her fingers. Fionna gave a little gasp and tried to duck, but she was too slow and the spine of the volume landed on her face. She grasped her face, and moaned a little. She never realized how much pain a book could give someone.

Her nose took most of the brunt and Fionna checked her hand to see if there was any blood. Luckily, it didn't bleed. Provoked, she glared at the second volume of the Demonology book, her mind already conjuring up ways of destroying it, when she noticed that a piece of paper was sticking out of its open pages. Curious, she picked up the book and took the slip of paper out. The paper was small and yellowed around the edges and didn't look like it was ripped off from the book but there was nothing on it. Fionna flipped it over and got a different result.

At the other side of the paper, it was a drawing. It was pretty crude but Fionna could still make it out. Fionna thought that the drawing was a castle, but she wasn't sure because the drawing was in a perspective as if the artist was drawing the building as if he or she was peering underneath it. Curved lines surrounded the front of the castle and Fionna couldn't tell what they were. Hedges? Walls? The heroine wasn't sure. She continue to inspect the paper and she saw at the edges of the paper were five black dots. Each of the dots were not too far from each other. The dots reminded Fionna of directional markings that you see on a compass. The dot at the top center represented North, the ones on the left and right represented West and East and the last two could've been Southwest and Southeast since they weren't exactly south on the paper. Fionna examined the paper more but she couldn't find any evidence about it about the demon clans. But why would a slip of paper be inside a Demonology book? Could it mean something?

Fionna examined the book for the author. In solid gold letters were two initials: P.M. Fionna was hoping that if she got the author's name, then maybe he or she would know about the slip of paper, but who, in the land of Aaa, would have the initials PM?

"The library is about to close in about an hour," the Turtle Prince said over an intercom. "Please hurry up on whatever you need to do."

Quickly, Fionna closed the book and put it back on the shelf. She didn't put the paper back on there. It seemed too important. She slipped the paper inside her green backpack. It wasn't considered stealing since the paper never belonged inside the book in the first place. She said her goodbyes to the Prince and thanked him for letting him use his library. Now, her next agenda was to find out what the paper was for and hopefully find out who the author of those books were.

* * *

"Cake!" Fionna shouted as she closed the door behind her. "I'm home!"

Fionna got no response. She checked her watch to confirm her time. She couldn't have been gone for more than fifteen minutes. It didn't take long to get to the Turtle Prince's library, plus she even took a shortcut to cut her time loss. Fionna called out to her roommate once more but the result was the same.

She climbed the ladder and checked the kitchen/living room but her best friend wasn't there. _Maybe Cake went out,_ Fionna thought. _The least she could've done was leave a note._ Fionna decided to go to her bedroom and when she got there, she almost yelped. There, on her bed, was Marshall Lee. He wore his typical blue jeans, red plaid collared shirt with gray stripes and tan and white converse shoes attire. The Vampire King was lounging on her bed, his legs crossed and reading one of Fionna's weapon magazines, like he belonged there.

"Marshall?" Fionna asked, dumbfounded. "Wha-? What are you doing here?"

"He's here for you, Fi."

Fionna turned to the voice and found out it originated from Cake. She was sitting on top of the drawer, her arms crossed and her face expressing that she was _not_ glad to have the Vampire King inside their room.

"For me? What for?" Fionna turned to Marshall.

He finally put down the magazine. He then turned to the heroine. "How would you like to go shopping with me?"

_AN:Next Chapter: **Suits and Blood.** it gets more interesting in the next, I promise and hopefully maybe some fluff…_


End file.
